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Joint Operation Puts Organised Retail Crime On Ice in Melbourne

One of our retail customers and Victoria Police have been working on another successful operation to disrupt the flow of stolen goods into an international reseller network.

The Chiller Bag Operation began when a security manager noticed two offenders using their distinctive booster bags to steal vitamins and infant formula from a retail business in suburban Melbourne.

After initially catching them in the act, the retailer kept further tabs on the pair and connected the dots through Auror on their offending across store locations.

It turned out that they were busy, stealing nearly $10,000 worth of goods every week. The retailer further collaborated with the local Transport Police, and observed the duo travelling by train throughout the area to shoplift from multiple stores and delivering their ill-gotten goods to a receiver.

That receiver was taking their deliveries and moving them hourly to other distribution points across a criminal network. This evidence enabled police to secure search warrants and raid multiple locations where stolen goods were being on-sold.

In all it was a major victory for the community, netting six arrests and recovering more than 11,500 stolen items across over 400 SKUs. But the story doesn’t end there. Records found on-site showed this gang was well-connected overseas as well, moving stolen goods and laundering money abroad to finance their operation.